senbazuru
by Asteriia
Summary: She folds 1000 paper cranes.


**AN: Uploading three oneshots in two days, wow I'm on a roll.****  
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**Revised: 11/07/14**

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The two of them first meet as patients on a cancer ward in hospital.

She is sat upright in her bed, fingers daintily folding floral paper in her lap as she hums quietly to herself.

When he comes across her, he questions what she's doing.

"Juvia is making cranes."

"Why?"

"Because, an ancient legend says that if you make a thousand, your wish will be granted." She meets his gaze with her next words, smiling brightly. "And Juvia wishes to live."

When he returns her smile, she falls for him instantly.

From that day onward, they're inseparable.

.

.

.

She discovers he is suffering from stage four stomach cancer, and he is set up with treatments of radiation and chemotherapy. It's progressed so far, that they have to act fast if they have any hopes of helping him survive. (In contrast, her leukaemia doesn't hinder her nearly as much and at this point Juvia is optimistic she will be out of hospital by the end of the year).

They become close friends, and Juvia visits him every day, even when his other long-time friends are there – she introduces herself and gets along with them well, even if she is initially jealous of how close the girls are with the young man.

Gray seems to be doing perfectly fine despite his condition.

Then one night he takes a turn for the worse.

.

.

.

They double his treatments and move him to another room, and though Juvia demands to see him, she is refused on account of developing breathing difficulties and a minor infection. Confined to bed, the nurses take pity on her however and allow her to talk with him over a phone.

That night, despite her exhaustion, she talks with him for two hours, tears falling down her face at one point as he chastises her to stop worrying too much.

In the end, the staff have to pry the phone out of her hands.

Trying to focus on something else, she returns to folding more cranes.

.

.

.

A week later, Juvia is administered into intensive care. Unable to breathe properly without aid, she drifts in and out of consciousness for most of the time.

She's greeted with the face of Gray and his friends on one occasion of awaking. He grasps her hand in both of his, and presses a kiss against her temple. Her face turns a dark shade of red as he pushes a lock of hair gently behind her ear.

"You have to get better."

Her heart flutters at the concern in his words, and her lips twitch upwards into a smile. If miracles were real, she was certain his lips on her skin would be all she needed to get better.

Unfortunately, fairy tales weren't so real.

All too soon he's whisked away by nurses who claim he can't spend too much time out of bed.

She finishes her final paper crane that night and makes her wish.

.

.

.

That night in the early hours, Gray is awoken by a frantic nurse. His condition had improved over the past few nights, and he's been moved back to his original room once more. Although tired, he sheds all exhaustion at the mention of Juvia's name.

Ten minutes later he finds himself stood outside a room staring through the window where Juvia lays motionless in bed. Her family are on their way but they won't make it in time. As a result, they fetched him since he's the only other person who cares about her.

She's suffered two brain hemorrhages.

Despite their doing everything they can, she won't make it through the night.

A nurse grasps his shoulder to earn his attention, and places in his hand a folded bit of paper. She's speaking, but none of it sinks it.

A crane, he realises. On its wing written in scribbled ink, is Juvia's wish.

Tears prickle within his eyes as he grips it against his chest, almost crushing it in his grasp. This wasn't supposed to happen.

_'Juvia wishes for Gray-sama to live.'_

Why did she waste her wish on him?

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**AN2: Because she loved you, you idiot. ;A; Urgh, why did I write this, I feel emotional and sad now. I seriously need to stop writing sad Gruvia fanfiction, it's not healthy for my mind. **


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